Big Travel Don’t

Do not! Under any circumstance! Ever! Move all of your possessions on Sunday and book the early flight for work on Monday. Travel don’t!

A new 10 questions with….Rachel Toyen

A self-portrait of Rachel

Check out 10 questions with Rachel Toyen who is the first and only (so far) guest blogger and general all around awesome person…..

Middle East Part 2: Qatar and Kuwait

What’s this? Two posts in the span of a week-ish? This cannot be…IT IS! Part two of my trip to the Middle East includes stops in both Qatar and Kuwait…

Qatar: Halfway between Dubai and Amman

If this were on a car would it be a Qatar-car flag? (saying it out loud makes it sound better)

I remember playing FIFA 1997 on SNES and I always remember the worst country to pick was always Qatar, other than that and the country having a cool flag I never knew much about this small Gulf country. After Bahrain and Oman it was nice to be in a place that was not in the midst of revolution nor national holiday! So I was ready to explore, it was unfortunate how work got in the way, much like Jordan and I didn’t get many pictures of my time in Doha.

When you arrive in Doha you are immediately blown away by how different (read Modern) it is from most of the other Gulf countries, excluding Dubai. The downtown core of Doha has modern high rises and is the second coming of Vancouver, just in a hot and arid climate.

I’ve also wondered how Qatar which is a small nation could support a world sporting event such as the World Cup in 2022 (all jokes of FIFA’s commitment to that selection not being a forgone conclusion, coughSEPPBLADDERLIKESMONEYcough, aside). I have no doubt that the Qatari people are going to put on a show in 2022. There are already stadiums there but they will build all new ones, and they will be gorgeous, and they will be air-conditioned.

I am seriously going to consider spending money on going to that World Cup because, conceivably, you could go and watch as many games as you want, as there ain’t much room in Qatar.

Qatar is a small country that you can get around in quite easily. My most vivid memory of Doha is driving in the desert between Al-Khor and Doha, at night, with “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane playing and pulling over to take this picture:

Between Al-Khor and Doha with sand all around

Now Doha was actually my favourite stop during this trip as it was the most modern, nicest and warmest city during the trip with Oman a close second. I also got to have some downtime in Doha and got to check out some of the sport facilities that were built for the Arab Games this past December. From what I can gather the Qatari royal family builds “communities” dedicated to certain activities and calls them <insert blank> City. For example, there are over five respectable, off-shore universities in Qatar in what is called Education City! My fascination with Sports City was undeniable.

Host stadium for Arab games

Located directly beside the host stadium

Needless to say I have to make sure that if I am in the area that I should go to an Asian/Arab/Any continent championships while I am close by. Don’t let the stereotypes get you. The whole world loves all sports (not just soccer). The Qatar Masters is a tennis tournament that takes place at the start of the year and a dream vacation would be to just hang out there for a while. From what I learned in my time in Doha is that it is one of the most rapidly growing and progressive places in the region. Of course it has a long way to go when talking about being progressive it has evolved to the point where the Queen has begun to build her own mega cities (ex. Education City). This is in pretty stark contrast to the other countries in the region, mainly my next stop…..

KUWAIT. It’s probably because it was the last stop

It didn’t help that my flight from Doha to Kuwait was packed, it also didn’t help that we left an hour late (while we were already on the plane) because some of the first class passengers weren’t ready to leave. It also doesn’t help that Kuwait Airlines could possibly have the oldest fleet still in rotation OR the fact that there is no alcohol served in Kuwait or on it’s airlines…and when I mean NO ALCOHOL I mean NONE….EVER….ANYWHERE…FOR ANYBODY….but I never really “got” Kuwait. It was also a bad omen that the customs officials at the Kuwaiti International Airport weren’t helpful/friendly/able to point me in any direction that would help me from entering their country/cool. Basically you have to give them your passport, then they yell at you to go over to the stamp machine that issues the stamps you need on your visa, then you need to bring it back to them and then they throw….no exaggeration….your passport at you and you are on your way, HOORAY! All this is done while looking at you like you are stupid and yelling at you in Arabic. YVR could take a lesson with its soothing fountains and friendly atmosphere.

Once we had navigated through the airport we had two days in Kuwait for work that were relatively uneventful. The whole country was relatively uneventful. So I am asking anyone who is reading this to provide me with things to do in the country. I am sure there are things I should see/do in Kuwait so please provide them in the comments section. I refuse to believe that my time on the plane, in the airport, driving around the city all with no night-cap was all that can be done.

I did make one very telling cultural observation about this place though. With the absence of alcohol and social life the malls are were everyone goes. And it is not just because of Robin Scherbatsky AKA Robin Sparkles. But literally everyone from families to single adults to teens to pre-teens are at the mall. Coincidentally so were we, enjoying a meal at TGI Fridays! Yes they have them. And yes they are amazing! But everyone was acting like it was high school, people were running all over the place, kids were on bikes running into people, guys would whistle at girls…actually whistle…it was unbelievable. In the midst of it all you have two Canadians enjoying an appy platter.

The only picture I took of Kuwait….

For all it’s faults it was pretty cool by night…and by cool I mean actually cool (10 degrees Celsius!)

Well there you have it….two posts in the span of a week and a bit….

Till next time.

Middle East Part 1: Jordan, Oman, Bahrain…

OK…..so….I haven’t posted in a while and much like my much maligned sports blog that I tried to keep going, I was worried that this one would fall into disarray…but I am back! And I am writing! And this in itself is good.

My last excursion in late November took me to a region of the world that has many misconceptions and judgements from people, the majority of which have never been there. The Middle East stirs up childhood memories for anyone in my generation of Desert Storm and that is unfair. The Middle East has friendly people, amazing food, awesome weather and of course it isn’t all roses and rainbows but every region gets things wrong sometimes….lest we forget the much maligned TV show Merlin? Wait….what? that is still on?

Jordan: Not enough time…

I arrived in Jordan just after midnight on November 23rd and after a day and a half of travelling I was stunned that I still knew my own name and hadn’t lost anything. In the morning I quickly realized that I was not going to have enough time to see everything in Jordan. When I tell people where I travel the response is always, “oh you are sooooo lucky!” But what they don’t realize is that it is all just one big tease as I never get to go and see things, always too busy with work.

When you work and don’t take time to head out into the city, these are the pictures you get

In Jordan there are many things to see but most are outside the city of Amman. My Top 3 next time I am in Jordan are set:

1. Petra – beautiful ruins from early civilization
2. Wadi Rum – desert camping
3. The Dead Sea – Lowest place on Earth

I overheard people in the hotel, people in taxis, people during work mention all three of these places and hence Chris’ horrible planning of arriving just in time to do work and leaving right after comes to the forefront. Next time I will definitely taking some time to see parts of this country which make people weep. Including Lauren Sharman.

Next Stop: Oman “AKA – A place where, if the royal family wants a holiday there is a holiday!”

After being way too busy in Jordan it was time to head to the beaches and warmth of Oman. I was talking to someone yesterday who said that you would never picture Oman as a place you would find beaches but let me tell you it is. Gorgeous ones! After taking the time to plan out a lot of work during our visit (I was now travelling with a colleague from another school) the royal family declared a holiday so everything got cancelled. That allowed for some very brief personal time so I decided to gravitate to my Cascadian roots and headed to the beach where I was overwhelmed with gorgeous views. I seriously have to get back to Oman and take some personal time…totally underrated place to go…

Must come back and soak in the sun

Will come back to Oman and apparently there is great surfing here

HISTORY NERD ALERT about Oman: As a History minor I like to learn quirky facts about different places. In Oman, every castle was designed with a small window above the main door. The reason? If it was an intruder you could pour scalding honey on their heads to drive them away! Sweeeeeeeet (bad pun alert always follows HISTORY NERD ALERT)

Bahrain: A lot like Oman just with a dash more revolution

So Bahrain is exactly like Oman and you can use this formula to figure it out (Oman = Bahrain – beaches – warm weather + grumpy custom officials + wind turbine that powers nothing + mild revolutions + places you could not go at night ). Much like Oman the royal family had called a national holiday so we had to cancel all of our work stuff and hung out in the hotel. Good times…

Here are some things I do to past the time in a country where there are mild revolutions and you can’t go out at night (all these things happened):

1. Skype with Joanna Hunter.

2. Go out looking for revolution!!!

No one can say I didn’t try, NO REVOLUTION HERE!

Strike 2 for revolution!

3. Facebook with the one person I know from Bahrain who I haven’t talked to in awhile, Thanks Claude D’Souza!

4. Have a dance party in my room.

5. Take pictures of funny bathroom signs of maids falling and hurting themselves.

The closest thing I can see to a revolution is one coming from the chamber maids at the Holiday Inn Bahrain (NOTE: There is no shower curtain in the cartoon)

And that was Bahrain…Part 2 to follow and again I will post more I promise!

Rachel Toyen Guest post: A Tale of Two Taxis – Israel

OK, so I promise that I have more posts coming in the next few days but I am very excited to say that my first post of 2012 is a guest post from one of my very best friends who I just so happen to work with, Rachel Toyen. Look for a “10 questions with….” Rachel in the next few days. But here it is. A Tale of Two Taxis:

Most of my work travel is in the United States, where I rent a car to get from place to place.  But once or twice a year, I get venture a bit further afield where I need to rely on Taxis to get around.    I actually enjoy this aspect of the travel, because I find that these taxi rides often provide insight into the culture, history, and politics of the place you are visiting.   Now, I have had my share of scary taxi rides:  Drivers who, in between trying to stay awake and speak on their cell phones, are weaving in and out of traffic, with little regard to the laws of the road.  Or sometimes you get a taxi that feels like it is being held together with duct tape…one bump in the road and it can all come apart.

But these are rare.    More often than not, the ride is very pleasant.  In fact, I find that engaging in a conversation with my driver provides an educational experience and sometimes even some comic relief.

On a recent trip to Israel.  I had two very different, but equally educational, taxi journeys.  The first was from Jerusalem to Ramallah, a city within the Palestinian Occupied territory in the West Bank.  Without getting into the history and politics (you can google it if you want to find out more), I will say that these two cities,  while less than 10 miles apart,  are two different worlds.    I had to hire a special taxi that has permission to go in and out of the West Bank and I had to bring my passport because there are checkpoints.  In fact, Israeli citizens are forbidden to travel to Ramallah.

Uber jealous of Rachel and her visit to Israel

My driver, David,  was someone who had been recommended to my from some on-line forums I had consulted.   He told me a lot about the history of the two cities, and he had this amazing ability to tell the story in a very factual, and politically neutral way.  You can imagine that this is a very politically charged and sometimes emotional situation, but he described it and helped me understand in a very unbiased, non judgmental  way.  He has many international clients of all political and religious backgrounds, and although I am sure he has his opinions on the situation, he did not let that seep into his explanations and our conversation.  He gave me great insight into the culture of both Jerusalem and Ramallah, and a great history lesson as  well.    I know that the next time I return, and need to make the trip to Ramallah again, David will be the one I call.

The following day in Tel Aviv, I had another taxi ride to a school about 25 minutes away.  This time, I got a car from a taxi stand.  As I approached, a woman got out of the passenger front seat, motioned for me to get in the front, and then hopped in the back.    The driver explained that that is his mother, who was riding with him for the day.   After telling him where I needed to go, the questions began.  Where are you from, what brings you to Israel?  And my favorite:

Taxi Driver:  “Are you married?”

Me:  No

TD:  Why not?

Me:  I guess I am picky.

TD:  What does this mean—picky?   Why is a good looking young woman not married.  If I did not already have a wife, we could get married.   (Roaring laughter)

I didn’t want to get into a whole diatribe on not needing someone to support me, not having found the right person, etc. So I just shrugged my shoulder , hoping he would drop it.

TD:  How long are you in Israel?

Me:  Only 4 days.

TD:  Why so little?!!!!!!   You don’t have a family or husband to get back to.  You should stay longer and enjoy yourself.

I tried to explain to him that it was a busy time at work, and I was needed there, but he wouldn’t have it..  He couldn’t understand why I just couldn’t take the time off.

TD:  If you were here longer, I would introduce you to my brother.

I rolled my eyes. He then went on to show me all the fancy features of his GPS/DVD/Music  in-dash player.  All the while, I was hoping he was concentrating on the road.

As we arrived at my destination, he showed me pictures of his wife and family.

Me:  Wow, your wife is beautiful.  And you are lucky to have 2 sons and 2 daughters

TD:  I hope you are as lucky as me one day.

Although my idea of being “lucky” differs  from his, I knew he meant well, so I just said, “Thank you, me too”.

I’m from Cascadia are you?

Whenever people ask me if I am from Vancouver, I say yes. Then they usually ask, OH so when did you move out there? To which I answer I never moved from anywhere. Then the awkward staring begins….

This is a phenomenon that I could never figure out until I started travelling more and, for lack of a better term, promoting the Pacific Northwest as a place to go to school and to live.

It is our future...

Everyone thinks that everyone who lives out here moved here to “find themselves” and a lot of people have. But there are few of us who were born and raised here. In fact, this Cascadian, was not only born and raised here but so was his parents and half of his grandparents. I am surprised that I am not a direct relation of Gassy Jack himself.

The more I travel the more I begin to realize that I am a rarity. There are a lot of people who live throughout the Pacific Northwest and many of them say that they are from here, but very few people have more than one or two generations of family that were born here. Most have come from either overseas or the dreaded “back east”. Shocking Revelation Alert: NOT EVERYONE IS FROM BACK EAST!

While travelling around Seattle this week I have felt right at home amongst the ever-changing weather but the Northwest is more than just rain and sun and then rain and then sun and then wind. The Northwest is more than just coffee lovers, book readers, soccer fans and surfing pot-smokers. Although some of us are…

The Cascadian Flag

So I’m now going to attempt to come up with the “Rules of Citizenship for Cascadia”…

– you must have lived within the borders of Cascadia for a least 5 years (see map above)
– it’s not that you need to like to rain, you must embrace it as your own, if you don’t this will not go well for you
– a thick skin is required for all those from outside who are hell-bent on saying that the Northwest is too windy, too wet, too cold, too weird…etc….
– finally, you must love the environment, NOTE: this does not mean you are an environmentalist but hey, it doesn’t hurt

The Open Road awaits… | Connecticut, Mass, Vermont, New York

The United States of New England (USNE)

I have spent this last week in New England. Now “New England” as a place is tough to define as it encompasses many states, all of which are as different as actually countries. The first thing I want to do is say how much I appreciate my friendship with Jack Smith, who is from Maine, and basically gave me a figurative roadmap of all these places.

The first thing that strikes you in New England, especially Connecticut, is it’s proximity to New York City and consequently how NYC has a reach beyond Manhattan itself. Southern Connecticut is a suburb of New York. There is traffic, white picket fences, traffic, lots of schools and traffic. It is a crazy phenomenon when you hit any where south of Hartford on the highway that you get backed up all the way into The City. It confirmed for me that neither Jo nor myself want to be a “bridge and tunnel” family.

After the first few days of my trip I no longer had to travel to the NYC suburb of southern Connecticut and made my way into the heart of New England (western Massachusetts and southern Vermont). Even though the leaves hadn’t changed yet you can see why people travel their every Fall. I was fortunate enough to be visiting for work and driving around one of the most beautiful parts of North America at the best time to go.

Vermont is astounding in it’s beauty and while I only spent an afternoon in Brattleboro I can see why it would be a beautiful place to visit. It has a stereotypical Main St, conveniently called Main Street and I spent my lunch time hanging out at The Works. A great sandwich and coffee place on Main St and had an amazing BLT. Or it may have very well been an ordinary BLT but because most of my meals this week consisted of a Dunkins Donuts coffee and a bagel, it might just been that I had nothing better to compare it too.

Home of Maple Syrup and The Works

My travels took me to some boarding schools in New England. The stereotypical massive campus with beautiful old buildings were what I was expecting. What I was not expecting was the down-to-Earth nature of all the students that I met. Everyone has connotations of boarding schools as being these places where “the future leaders of our countries” and “students born with silver spoons” go. Of course not every student can afford to go there and money is a factor but the students I met were so thankful to us for coming to their school and making the time and the effort to visit. It made me wonder what type of experience I would have had at a boarding school. Coming from a public high school in East Vancouver with a total population of 2000 is a stark contrast and both have their downfalls. But growing up in a big public school you always have a sense that kids that went to private school or boarding school have it better than you and look down on you and while I am sure that there are misconceptions on both sides, they are both exaggerated.

Sorry for the delay in postings and I am off to Seattle next week so expect a post from Vancouver’s sister city and then back to Boston afterwards (to get my Sam Lagrassa’s sandwich)!

Where to and what to do? | Fall Preview

Well the time has come…I am off again for another busy travel season and on the docket are some old favourites and new adventures to check out. Before I jump into this Fall preview I want to take the time to thank everyone that has been leaving comments and suggestions and just reading this blog, it has definitely inspired me to write more so thank you! In the upcoming season there will definitely be more “10 questions with…”, some guest bloggers and more helpful hints for travellers.

The places I’ve been
Seattle, Boston, New York. Not a bad lineup of places I’m used to going. These cities are on the schedule a few times this Fall and each one of them have special spots that I am excited to head back too. The other exciting thing is that my partner in crime, Jo, is accompanying me to New York. She has never been and she is excited. So please leave some comments for her on things to do while she is there. I am going to be mainly doing work so any suggestions you have, bring’em on! Boston and Seattle are old favourites and as mentioned last week, I am going to get myself a healthy dose of Sam Lagrassa’s and Mama’s Kitchen (respectively) for those two weeks.

The places I’ll go
New England, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar. An eclectic mix to be sure but all are exciting nonetheless. This is where I am going to reach out to you guys, the readers. New England is coming up first and most of my time is going to be spent between southern Connecticut and southern Vermont. I am staying just north of Hartford so any suggestions for food, cool things to look at or shopping are welcome. The Gulf states are a completely different ballgame. First off I don’t have much time as I will be flying to and fro from those places but if you have any suggestions or tips about travelling to any of those countries let me know. I am going to try and snap some pictures of the FIFA World Cup stadiums in Qatar as I amazed that they are holding that tournament in, for lack of a better term, the desert! I may also try and find Kushal from Tim and Sid podcast fame. But other than that, any suggestions are welcome and encouraged…

Talk to you all soon!

Travel and Food

Food and travel are linked. Not only can you try food from the different places that you go but you also are usually eating out when you do travel, it’s fun and takes you back to a time when “eating out” was a treat. Of course when you do travel a lot, like a lot of my friends and colleagues, eating out loses it’s lustre (Think of Elaine in that Seinfeld where they eat at the Chinese food place, yeah you know the one).

"You remember when going out to a restaurant was exciting?....Now it's just like lining up at the trough" - Elaine Benes

Now depending on the type of traveller you are, your comfort level with eating out in a city or place you don’t know will vary. All of you may not be comfortable with the greasy spoon down the street from your hotel and that “street meat” stand around the corner doesn’t look like it is up to health standards. But there are ways you can find interesting places to eat before you even get there. Here are a few tricks of the trade that I and many of my friends have tried.

The Food Network – The Food Network and it’s variety of shows is always a good place to start. Their website is good and searchable and the best show I have found for good eats, especially around the US is Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Guy Fieri is the host and while he can wear on people but he has led me to some classic places. The gem of my finds so far has been Sam La Grassa’s in Boston where I had the best sandwich of my life.

Ask locals – Especially for people who are mainly travelling for business this is the best way to find a great place to eat. In my travels I meet a bunch of great people who not only know their home town but also are quite happy to suggest their favourite spots. For example, whenever I have friends in town that ask, “Where is a great place to eat in Vancouver?” without hesitation I send them to Temaki Sushi on Broadway. Every local has their own favourite and they wouldn’t keep going back if it wasn’t any good.

Think about it – Wherever you are must be known for something. I wouldn’t go ordering steak in a place like Halifax nor seafood in Winnipeg. Check out what some of the commodities are in the area around you and go for that. While you may find tons of places that make what you are looking for, a quick search through either Yelp or Urban Spoonswill point you in the right direction.

Best pastrami melt, hands down!

When you travel you want to make sure you experience all that city has to offer. Usually, for me, that includes food and tasting what comes from the place I am in. There is one downfall to finding these gems when you are abroad, is that you always want to go back to have “The best <insert food here>”. Pastrami sandwiches are ruined for me forever, thanks Sam La Grassa’s.

Niagara-on-the-Lake | Hometown Pride

I was born and raised on the west coast of Canada, in Vancouver and I have three generations behind me to transplant me out here. Before I met Joanna I had never been to Ontario and like a lot of west coasters, including some I related to, I never saw the point in heading out there. There was no ocean, no beaches (or so I thought) and very little in the way of cool weather in the summer and no end of snow in the winter.

Then Jo and I planned a big trip out to Niagara-on-the-Lake, where all of her family is from, to meet my soon-to-be family members and for Jo to see family members that she hadn’t seen in a long time.

I was ready for a true family vacation and we definitely were hosted, wined and dined as any family member would be but I remember there was one thing that stuck out in my mind. The absolute pride and passion that Jo’s family and everyone in NOTL has for their city.

NOTL one of the birthplaces of our great nation

Along with all the festivities of meeting new family members we also got a tour of NOTL, a history lesson of the area and I quickly found out that Jo’s family have a long-established history in the region. I mean, when you have a street named after you in a town and many of your relatives were born on that street you know it is something special. NOTL is home to Fort George, a major training ground for soldiers during the War of 1812 and the grounds have been established as a heritage site in Canada. The region around NOTL is also famous for Laura Secord‘s journey to warn British soldiers of eminent American attack and as one of the stops on the Underground Railroad.

Along with its history the Niagara region is gorgeous. Not to be mistaken with “The Falls” NOTL is not where Niagara Falls is and, in my humble opinion, NOTL is a place with a lot more soul and character than the glitzy “kitch” of “The Falls”. The people of NOTL, and I’m not just saying this because I am related to most of them now, love their city and so they should. It’s home of Brock University, The Escarpment, the Shaw Festival, the wine region, Hunter Road and most importantly a community where everyone is welcomed with a smile.